542 



The Review of Reviews. 



the prophel, reciting his credo with no unicrtain 

 voice : 



1 have too miicli Ir.ilh in the fuliirc of Socialism to regard such 

 arts as these as necessary or dcsiraljlo. Soci.-.lism is destined to 

 conquer and, in its conquest, it will assuredly supersede the 

 Throne, the Hearth, and the Altar in the forms in which they 

 have existed in history and survive al llie present time. It w'ill 

 assuredly make an end of the narrow views on these subjects 

 still largely obtaining, as of the institutions themselves as at 

 present existing ; and in their place will arise other social forms 

 ami other conceptions more consistent with the realisation of 

 that Freedom, Justice, and Brotherhood which is, after all, the 

 ethical standard that Socialism unfolds before the eyes of men 

 and by the virtue of which it makes appeal to their hearts. 

 A HOT-GOSPELLER OF EMPIRE. 



The message of these five books is openly and 

 conressedly one of conversion to opinions and faiths 

 orthodox or heterodox ; but the reader, in taking up 

 •' The Shadow Show," hardly suspects that a " sting 

 will be found in the tail." Apparently Mr Curie has 

 no axe to grind, and 

 tells his yarns to such 

 got)d purpose that for 

 200 pages we share 

 with growing affec- 

 tion the pleasures and 

 pains of journeyings 

 in far-away lands, 

 when, hey presto ! at 

 Chapter XL the hot- 

 gospeller of empire 

 and eugenics is upon 

 us. Mr. Curie takes 

 as his text the words 

 " Mine own people," 

 and his winged words 

 will pierce and wound 

 ihepatriotic Britisher 

 who takes everything; 

 for granted in thi- 

 the " best of all pos 

 sihle worlds." Mr, 

 Curie is a cynic, but 

 he castigates witli 

 vigorous purpose ; he 

 is cruel to be kind. 

 Mis world-wide wan- 

 derings have given 



him an insight into some phases of mission-work 

 among the contented heathen, and in a few trenchant 

 sentences he passes in review the conditions of 

 workers at home. 



To Mr. Curie, as to Mr. Carter, the Church has 

 liecome the chaplain of the middle-class, and there is 

 little mincing in his words : — 



Religion, as we have evolved it, is become a flabby thing. 

 It is a creed for the well-to-do, a creed of the tall hat, whose 

 votaries dare not peer below the surfaii- of things. We are 

 concerned with the supernatural, with mir.acles, with three 

 Gods who are one God ; scornful of science, we treat sin and 

 misery as casu il factors, removable by prayer, and ignore the 

 reign of law through which wc move from birth to death. 



These half-a-dozen books pre.sent at least as many 

 points of view ; and yet there is a dominant note of 



Mr. J. 



Curie. 



unrest, of suspended hope and ideals yet to be attained. 

 'Fhe Christian apologist prays that his plea may be 

 regarded by " them that pass by," the social worker 

 looks for some inovement in the dry bones, and the 

 critic and c\nic alike say frankly that Christians 

 are self-deceived, yet even their yearnings are liut an 

 added proof that " the world-soul greatens with the 

 centuries." 



IRELAND THE ISHMAEL. 



Once again Ireland demands a hearing, and the brief 

 is in part presented in three books, all serious in tone 

 and matter as indicating that at last we come to busi- 

 ness. The place of honour must be given to Lord 

 Eversle\'s Gladstone and Ireland (Methuen and Co. 

 los. 6d. net). " Always a policy and never a plan " 

 might well epitomise English methods in Ireland, and 

 Gladstone's heroic efforts to solve the difficulty by 

 heroic methods is the exception that proves a too-long 

 standing rule. Lord Eversley's position as one of Mr. 

 Gladstone's henchmen enables him to speak with the 

 necessary authority, although little that is new is 

 allowed to transpire in this somewhat sombre narrative. 

 The predominant partner is at last, let us hope, on the 

 high wav to conversion, and it is possible that Lord 

 Eversley's solemn presentment of recent history may 

 help some doubters to a contrite heart. In all honesty 

 we do not think any form of history will effect much 

 where the logic of events has failed for centuries, and 

 when England tardily consigns to the taxpayers across 

 the St. George's Channel the task (and duty) of full 

 self-government, the full process of e.xhaustion will 

 have rendered any other course impossible. Ireland 

 must ever remain the blot on England's escutcheon, 

 even after, as we hope, Lord Eversley will have the 

 congenial task of recording the final vindication of his 

 old chief's " leap in the dark." 



The contribution of Mr. Hume Williams, K.C., IM.P. 

 • — A Short History of the Irish Parliament (Cassell. 

 IS. net)— is a concise history of the Irish Parliament, 

 and quite timely in the educative task of the next 

 few months, as is also another edition of Mr. Barry 

 O'Brien's Dublin Castle and the Irish People (Kegan 

 Paul and Co. 3s. 6d. net), which is penned without 

 . any of that prejudice which the \ery name of the 

 " Castle" suggests to those within and without the 

 pale. We feel sure that the task of future historians 

 will be a labour of love without that measure of hate 

 which has embittered the outlook of .so many who 

 have attempted to realise the woes of the island of 

 misery. 



THE FOURTH ESTATE ?— THE FIRST. 

 In The Supremaey oj Public Opinion (The Century 

 Press. 2S. 6d. net) " Quisque " advances the obvious 

 argument that the Press is one of the most valuable 

 instruments of public service, lacking only ollicial 

 recognition to enable it to fulfil its highest useful- 

 ness to the State. The author's argument may 

 be summarised in the axiom, " No Press, no 

 Empire ! " And he has many true things to say 



